Effects of age on flashbulb memories

The authors investigated the effect of aging on flashbulb (FB) memories. In 1996, elderly Turks recalled how they had heard about 2 remote events--the death of the first president of Turkey (in 1938) and another event involving a change in the national borders of the country (in 1939)--and both elderly and younger adults recalled how they heard about the recent death of the 8th president of Turkey (in 1993). Seventy percent of the elderly had FB memories for the 1938 death; critical variables for the formation of FB memories were personal importance attached to the event and rehearsal. Ninety percent of younger Turks and 72% of elderly Turks had FB memories for the 1993 death; the only variable that differed between the 2 groups was rehearsal.     

Gamma-range oscillations in backward-masking functions and their putative neural correlates

Backward-masking functions have been hitherto categorized into two types, commonly named Type A and Type B. The analysis of a model of Retino-Cortical Dynamics produces the prediction that spatially localized stimuli should reveal an oscillatory metacontrast function. The predicted new type of metacontrast masking function was investigated in a psychophysical experiment. The results show oscillatory metacontrast functions with significant power in the gamma range (30-70 Hz). A marked decrease in the oscillations is observed when the spatial extent of the stimuli is increased. The theoretical basis of the study relates the oscillations found in the metacontrast function to gamma-range oscillations observed in scalp and intracerebral recordings. The qualitative agreement between the model and data provides support for this putative relationship.     

The effect of familial sinistrality on the relation between schizophrenialike thinking and pseudoneglect

We have recently reported a correlation between schizophrenialike symptoms and the degree of pseudoneglect in healthy right-handers. We aimed to investigate the effect of familial sinistrality (FS) on this relation. Seventy-six healthy right-handers were divided into four groups on the basis of gender and FS. A computerized version of Corsi's task was used as the visuospatial task. Subjects filled in the Magical Ideation Scale (MI), which asked for delusionlike beliefs, and performed the Corsi's task using each hand. Performance of both hemispaces was separately evaluated. In all groups, performance of the left hemispace was better than that of the right hemispace and FS+ subjects performed better than FS- subjects. When the right hand was used, performance was correlated to MI scores only for FS- groups. Findings suggest that the correlation between right-sided neglect and proneness to schizotypy in normal right-handers is affected by FS.     

Gesture is at the cutting edge of early language development

Children who produce one word at a time often use gesture to supplement their speech, turning a single word into an utterance that conveys a sentence-like meaning ('eat'+point at cookie). Interestingly, the age at which children first produce supplementary gesture-speech combinations of this sort reliably predicts the age at which they first produce two-word utterances. Gesture thus serves as a signal that a child will soon be ready to begin producing multi-word sentences. The question is what happens next. Gesture could continue to expand a child's communicative repertoire over development, combining with words to convey increasingly complex ideas. Alternatively, after serving as an opening wedge into language, gesture could cease its role as a forerunner of linguistic change. We addressed this question in a sample of 40 typically developing children, each observed at 14, 18, and 22 months. The number of supplementary gesture-speech combinations the children produced increased significantly from 14 to 22 months. More importantly, the types of supplementary combinations the children produced changed over time and presaged changes in their speech. Children produced three distinct constructions across the two modalities several months before these same constructions appeared entirely within speech. Gesture thus continues to be at the cutting edge of early language development, providing stepping-stones to increasingly complex linguistic constructions.     

Lateralization of squamous cell carcinomas in the head-neck region

Earlier studies have shown the lateralization of several immune disorders, including herpes zoster infection and breast cancer. We investigated whether there is lateralization of squamous cell carcinomas in the head-neck region and a relation of handedness with this cancer. Analysis showed right-sided lateralization of head-heck cancers in right-handed patients and vice versa in left-handed ones and a higher rate of left-handedness in patients with squamous cell cancer. Associations among left-handedness, squamous cell carcinoma, and its lateralization may result from a genetic togetherness.     

A study of 60- to 89-mo.-old children's skill at writing numerals

The skill of writing numerals necessitates a certain developmental maturity. Studying the age at which children start to develop this skill and assessing problems they encounter while writing numerals should give direction to their training. From 8 schools a total of 267 children, ages 60 to 89 mo., were asked to write the numerals 1 to 9. Analysis showed that 80% of the children wrote most of the numerals correctly, 15% wrote inverted numerals, 2.0% wrote some numerals as letters, and 4% did not write certain numerals at all. In addition, 64% of children ages 60 to 65 mo. gave correct responses, and the perception of correct responses increased across age groups until 95% were correct in the group who were 84 to 89 mo. There was no significant difference between girls and boys in these writing skills.     

Quality of life assessment in Turkish patients with schizophrenia and their relatives

Quality of life of first-degree relatives living in the same household with patients having schizophrenia has not been sufficiently explored. 30 patients with schizophrenia (16 women, 14 men), diagnosed using DSM-IV criteria, 31 of their relatives (15 women, 16 men), and 34 control subjects (21 women, 13 men) were included in the study. The mean age of the patients, their relatives, and the control subects were 39.8 +/- 10.9, 58.1 +/- 12.5 and 37.3 +/- 17.0, respectively. The World Health Oranization Quality of Life-Brief Form was administered to all subjects. Quality of life was worse for the patient group than for their relatives and control subjects, but relatives of the patients and control subjects were not significantly different on Quality of life. Quality of life was negatively correlated with the severity of psychopathology and extrapyramidal side effects induced by antipsychotic drugs in the patients.     

Treatment of pharmacotherapy-refractory posttraumatic stress disorder among Cambodian refugees: a pilot study of combination treatment with cognitive-behavior therapy vs sertraline alone

Cambodian refugees with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) represent a cohort in severe need of treatment, but little information is available to guide treatment choices. We selected a sample of pharmacotherapy-refractory individuals to test the efficacy of combination treatment with sertraline and cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for treating PTSD. Participants in this pilot study were ten Khmer-speaking women who had been at a mean age of 22-26 years during the Pol Pot period (1975-1979). These patients were randomly assigned to either sertraline alone or combined treatment. We found that combined treatment offered additional benefit in the range of medium to large effect sizes for PTSD and associated symptoms. Our findings indicate that substantial gains can be achieved by adding CBT to pharmacotherapy for PTSD, and that a program of CBT emphasizing information, exposure, and cognitive-restructuring can be successfully modified for Khmer-speaking refugees.     

The relationship of self-concept and perceived athletic competence to physical activity level and gender among Turkish early adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the self-concept and perceived athletic competence of Turkish early adolescents in relation to physical activity level and gender. Self-concept was assessed using the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, and perceived athletic competence was assessed by means of the Athletic Competence subscale of Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Children. In addition, the Weekly Activity Checklist was used for assessing physical activity level. Males and females were assigned to low and high physical activity level groups based on their mean scores. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant main effects for gender and physical activity level, but there was no significant gender by physical activity interaction. Univariate analysis demonstrated a significant main effect for physical activity level on perceived athletic competence but not global self-concept. In addition, univariate analysis did not reveal a significant difference in either global self-concept or perceived athletic competence with respect to gender.     

Oscillatory brain dynamics, wavelet analysis, and cognition

On the basis of a systems theoretical approach it was hypothesized that event-related potentials (ERPs) are superpositions of stimulus-evoked and time-locked EEG rhythms reflecting resonance properties of the brain (Ba?ar, 1980). This approach led to frequency analysis of ERPs as a way of analyzing evoked rhythms. The present article outlines the basic features of ERP frequency analysis in comparison to ERP wavelet analysis, a recently introduced method of time-frequency analysis. Both methods were used in an investigation of the functional correlates of evoked rhythms where auditory and visual ERPs were recorded from the cat brain. Intracranial electrodes were located in the primary auditory cortex and in the primary visual cortex thus permitting "cross-modality" experiments. Responses to adequate stimulation (e.g., visual ERP recorded from the visual cortex) were characterized by high amplitude alpha (8-16 Hz) responses which were not observed for inadequate stimulation. This result is interpreted as a hint at a special role of alpha responses in primary sensory processing. The results of frequency analysis and of wavelet analysis were quite similar, with possible advantages of wavelet methods for single-trial analysis. The results of frequency analysis as performed earlier were thus confirmed by wavelet analysis. This supports the view that ERP frequency components correspond to evoked rhythms with a distinct biological significance.